Militias aligned with Libya's new unity government say they're nearing Sirte, the coastal city held by IS insurgents. The Pentagon says it's watching trends "very closely" and sending more ships to the Mediterranean.
Two Libyan pro-government militias said they had taken control over an air base and several military camps on the Sirte's outskirts, but "Islamic State" (IS) snipers were still hindering capture of the inner city.
Officials quoted by the news agency Associated Press early Friday said some IS militants had already fled Sirte and had cut off their beards to blend in with civilians.
IS extended its jihadist drive from the Middle East to Sirte in 2014, amid the chaos that had followed the ouster and death of Libyan dictator Muammer Gadhafi in 2011.
The militias, mostly from western Libya's Misrata region, have become the main fighting forces for the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) installed at a Tripoli naval base earlier this year.
Parallel push in northern Syria
The push for Sirte in Libya coincides with a parallel bid in northern Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the Aleppo province city of Manbij, another IS city stronghold.
The US military said a second American naval group led by the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower was nearing the Mediterranean to support anti-IS operations.
Snipers still active
A Misrata militant spokesman Mohamed al-Gasri said the Libya's governing alliance expected Sirte to be "liberated within days, not weeks."
IS snipers were still active. On Wednesday alone, 15 GNA-affiliated militiamen were killed and 95 injured, said a Misrata hospital spokesman quoted by Reuters.
Some had been flown to Turkey and Italy for treatment. That prompted the GNA on Thursday to call for international medical aid for "our heroes."
Last weekend, the GNA's premier Fayez al-Sarraj told the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche said sending foreign ground troops would be "contrary to our principles".
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